Sub-Junior Boys NFC: Manipur go down 1-2 as Arunachal Pradesh reach final round

By Our Sports Reporter
IMPHAL, Sep 11 : Manipur's hope of making it to the final round of the Sub-Junior Boys National Football Championship came to an end today after they went down 1-2 in the hands of Arunachal Pradesh at Khuman Lampak Stadium in the last Group A league match (qualifier).
Manipur which registered 3-1 win against Tripura in the opening qualifying round match, had to bite the dust as Arunachal Pradesh's Mam Prema Sherpa and Dorjee Leda Lepcha found the target in their 2-1 win.
Arunachal Pradesh dominated the opening half proceedings and made the headway when Mam Prema Sherpa cooly converted a penalty kick awarded in the 24th minute to make it 1-0 till the break before Dorjee Leda Lepcha doubled their advantage in the 48th minute as the State team continued to struggle to find their composure.
Ningthoujam Abungton proved vital as struggling Manipur managed to cut the gap in the 70th minute before going down by the narrow margin in this must win game. Even a draw was more than enough for Arunachal Pradesh to top the Group on account of better goal count thanks to 8-2 thrashing of Tripura in their opening match fixture.